Harsher penalties for intelligence whistleblowers in Australia will also attempt to deter future whistleblowers like Edward Snowden from speaking about Australia's surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Did the use of harsh interrogation methods produce intelligence that helped track down Osama bin Laden?
While President Bush and C.I.A. officials would later insist that the harsh measures produced crucial intelligence, many veteran interrogators, psychologists and other experts say that less coercive methods are equally or more effective.
Despite his reputation, even his harshest critics recognized his intelligence and his ability to discuss controversial matters in an objective and disinterested spirit.
The CIA says it has gained life-saving intelligence from the harsh interrogation of people such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the attacks of September 11th 2001.
Yet nowhere does he refute the facts at hand: that intelligence gleaned from harsh interrogations played a key role in finding Bin Laden.
The Pakistani government was less than harsh with him and western intelligence agencies report that significant parts of his personal network are still operational.
Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U., said his organization accepted that there should be limits to disclosures and was not seeking, for example, intelligence revealed during harsh interrogations or the identities of rank-and-file C.I.A. officers.
Claims that harsh interrogations produced no unique intelligence that disrupted terrorist plots are "wrong," he said.
"The staff has looked at all 20 and they believe that isn't true," Feinstein said, referring to the claim that the harsh methods led to actionable intelligence.
